>>Markets Closed For Juneteenth
(New York, NY) -- Wall Street reopens this morning after going dark Wednesday in observance of the Juneteenth holiday. Stocks edged higher Tuesday with the S&P 500 hitting another record despite weak retail sales data. At the closing bell, the Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 56 points to 38-834. The S&P 500 added 13 points to 54-87. The Nasdaq rose 5 points to 17-862.
>>Shippers Call For Action After Houthis Sink Greek Ship
(London) -- The shipping industry is calling for action to be taken in the Red Sea after Houthi rebels sunk another merchant ship. Authorities confirmed Wednesday that a Greek coal carrier was sunk last week by Houthi militants off the coast of Yemen, using missiles and a remote-controlled boat full of explosives. In a joint statement Wednesday, the world's top shipping associations said "these attacks must stop now," and called for "states with influence in the region to safeguard our innocent seafarers and for the swift de-escalation" of the situation in the Red Sea.
>>Rents Likely To Increase Two-Percent Nationwide This Year
(New York, NY) -- More renters are staying put as the least affordable home-sales market in decades is affecting rental costs. According to market forecasters, asking rents for new leases are likely to rise two-percent nationwide, well below the double-digit rates of the pandemic years. Nationally, asking rents for new leases are flat over the past 12 months, but those figures are heavily influenced by the Sunbelt, where record-high supply has seen rents and new leases come down in cities like Austin, Phoenix and Nashville, Tennessee. Strong job growth has also compelled some landlords to raise rents.
>>Feds: Cartel Partnered With Underground Chinese Bank
(Undated) -- The Justice Department says Mexico's Sinaloa Cartel laundered millions of dollars from drug trafficking through an underground Chinese banking group in Southern California. Prosecutors said Tuesday the illicit banking system was created to help Chinese nationals evade restrictions on moving currency around. Operators allegedly struck a deal with the cartel and laundered more than 50-million dollars through various methods, including crypto currency and cashiers checks. Arrests have been made in China and Mexico.
>>UN Survey Shows Large Majority Support Climate Change Action
(New York, NY) -- A new global survey says four out of five people want more action taken to fight climate change. The UN survey posed 15 questions about climate change to thousands of people in over 70 countries, and found that 80 percent of respondents want their governments to increase efforts to fight global warming. People from poor nations were the most in favor of climate action. In the U.S., one of the world's biggest greenhouse gas emitters, 66 percent said they were in favor of climate action.
>>CDK Global Software Company Shuts Down After Cyber Incident
(Hoffman Estates, IL) -- A multinational software company is shutting down all its systems while it investigates a cyber incident. CDK Global, which provides software to car dealerships, said Wednesday it was briefly shutting down its systems proactively, and that its core dealer management system had been restored. In a statement to Reuters, CDK said they are continuing to conduct extensive tests on all other applications, and will provide updates as they bring those applications back online. No details were given about the cyber incident.
